Bruins put their hopes on the line

LOS ANGELES - During that two-game stretch when the UCLA running game was struggling, offensive coordinator and line coach Tom Cable made a point of praising the play of sophomore starters Shannon Tevaga, Chris Joseph and Brian Abraham.

He also pointed out that weak-side tackle Ed Blanton had played perhaps his best game of the season against Oklahoma.

And then he challenged senior center Mike McCloskey to make them all better.

"He sat me down and told me, 'You're doing good, but we need you to do better,'" the Laguna Hills High graduate said. "I knew that, and he knew that I knew that. Not much needed to be said."

McCloskey had been scuffling - and the running game suffered as a result. But the Bruins (5-0, 2-0 in the Pac-10) were more in sync last week in a victory over Cal, rushing for 170 yards and an average of 5.5 yards a play.

And they will need to maintain that average Saturday in a Pac-10 game at Washington State (3-2, 0-2), which is fourth in the conference in rushing defense and will have tackle Ropati Pitoitua, who has not played this season after suffering a fractured right leg in fall camp.

Pitoitua is 6-foot-8 and 300 pounds, and for 10 to 15 plays Saturday he will be lined up next to 6-6, 310-pound tackle Aaron Johnson. Pitoitua and Johnson will be to the left and right of the Bruins' senior center.

"We changed some of the schemes and went back to some of our basics and we were able to get it done," McCloskey said of the Cal game. "That's what we concentrated on, going back to our roots and just kind of getting that down and making sure that everybody was on the same track."

Notes

Washington State coach Bill Doba said starting split end Jason Hill is doubtful to play against the Bruins because of a thigh contusion. Hill is the Cougars' leading receiver with 28 receptions for 521 yards (18.6 average) and seven touchdowns. He did not play last week in the loss to Stanford. ...

With Kyle Bosworth out because of a broken left thumb, backup tight end Matt Raney was added to the 64-man travel roster. ...

Strong safety Jarrad Page on Brian Ruziecki, a walk-on from Huntington Beach who got some playing time at defensive tackle against Cal: "I was watching the film and he was doing a real good job getting penetration on every play. We've got guys that are going to step up and do the job."

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